Wharton gets last word on salaries; chides council plan to cut officials' pay

After quarrelling with Mayor AC Wharton over their plan to reduce the salaries of the city's highest-paid employees, City Council members said Thursday they'll leave it up to the mayor to decide which workers will get pay cuts.

The council's operating budget committee approved a resolution for a $623 million budget that calls for personnel savings totaling $875,609 -- the amount that would've been spared under a proposal to cut by 3 percent to 5 percent the pay of nonunion employees making over $80,000 a year.

Councilmen Harold Collins and Bill Morrison had put forth the plan on Wednesday as part of an effort to slash $5.1 million from the budget, but on Thursday Wharton assailed it as a grandstanding ploy. He said the councilmen seemed more interested in "good press" than good public policy.

"I am more concerned with giving the people a good government," Wharton said.

City Atty. Herman Morris and City Council Atty. Allan Wade, in separate opinions released Thursday, said the council has the right to set only the salaries of the mayor, chief administrative officer and division directors.

Morrison said he realizes the council's boundaries and that he is asking Wharton to lead on this issue.

The resolution approved by the committee Thursday still calls for personnel savings of $875,609, but it gives Wharton the authority to determine which salaries are reduced.

"I trust the mayor understands the intent of the council and he will do the best thing for the city," said Morrison. "If he doesn't do the right thing, he will have violated the trust of this council and the people of Memphis."

The $623 million budget -- $13.2 million less than Wharton initially had requested -- would not require a property tax increase or a severe reduction in services. The $13.2 million in cuts includes $8.1 million suggested by the Wharton administration and an additional $5.1 million suggested by the budget committee.

The committee voted 4-0 to recommend that the full 13-member council approve the reduced budget June 8.

The council's salary-cutting plan would have affected 214 workers, including many high-level appointees.

Collins said he was listening to taxpayers.

"These are difficult decisions, but we have heard the citizens of Memphis," he said. "They have made it clear they do not support a tax increase and prefer budget cuts."

CAO George Little said the administration understands the will of the council but it is the mayor's duty to set salaries for city employees.

"The mayor needs the authority to make the cuts where he sees fit," he said. "What we've been suggesting is to talk about the ways we can get to the same place."

In addition to hitting high-ranking political appointees, the salary-reduction measure would have impacted leadership positions within the Memphis Police Department and Memphis Fire Department. At least 25 police employees and 76 members of the Fire Department would have been hit.

"This is an example of how the popular thing to do is not always the right or responsible thing," said Wharton. "The council may not realize that they have singled out over a hundred public-safety workers in their proposed salary cuts."

Morrison said the salary reductions would not impact public safety.

"We realize these cuts will affect upper management of police and fire but not the patrolman on the street or the firefighter running into a burning building," he said.